1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fiber treatment using noble metal micro-dispersion water. Specifically, the invention relates to a fiber treatment agent comprising noble metal micro-dispersion water, a method for treating fiber using such treatment agent, and a high-function fiber material or product obtained through treatment using such treatment agent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Reflecting the growing trend toward healthier and cleaner lifestyle choices, products that offer benefits in promoting health or improving cleanliness are drawing the attention. In particular, demands and requests for these products are increasing in the areas of food, clothes, daily necessities, etc. Among others, clothes (fiber products) are always worn on our body, and accordingly there are strong consumer demands for clothes that can effectively promote heath, prevent diseases or improve cleanliness.
Against this backdrop, healthy clothes have been actively studied and many products have been developed to date. For example, clothes offering disease-curing effects are commercially available, which utilize fiber material or carbon fiber that generates far infrared rays or magnetism. At the same time, tormarine-based fiber products claiming a fatigue-relief effect and clean, antibacterial fiber products utilizing inorganic compounds, chitosan, etc., are also generating interest.
However, many of these commercial products are yet to offer satisfactory levels of health-promoting function or cleanliness-improving efficacy or even the basic clothing function, and the aforementioned consumer demands are not fully answered yet.
On the other hand, noble metals, especially gold, have been considered some of the most valuable materials available to men since the ancient times and used primarily in ornaments and treasures. In recent years, gold has been found to promote human health and improve cleanliness and is used in such applications as pure-gold health bracelet or Japanese sake containing gold foil. Of late, silver compounds are also used in commercial products as an antibacterial agent that improves cleanliness.
However, the health benefits of these health products have not been fully recognized, despite their very pricey nature due to use of pure gold, etc.
In recent years, the health functions of noble metals have been again drawing the attention of the increasingly health-conscious public. In particular, gold ion and fine gold particles are now known to offer more remarkable health-promoting function than gold metal itself or gold foil.
Among all noble metals, gold in the form of gold ion or fine gold particle is generating interest as a material potentially offering health-promoting function and disease-curing effect, and technologies to harness these possibilities of gold are eagerly awaited. The basic application modes of gold include aqueous solution or water dispersion containing gold ions and fine gold particles. However, several problems must be solved before they can be put to practical use.
For example, it is difficult to dissolve gold ions and fine gold particles in water, and the only methods available before were those that simply mix gold foil or powder with water or use gold electrolyte. However, these conventional methods couldn't produce desired products economically and the final products didn't provide sufficient health-promoting function because gold remained in foil or powder form. Additionally, safety of gold foil or chemical electrolyte of gold in the human body is not yet confirmed. These industrial and technical problems still remain unresolved.
Research and development efforts are underway in this technical field in order to solve these problems and embody the potential health-promoting function and disease-curing effect of gold ion and fine gold particle. However, to date only a few technologies have been reported in this field, where many developments should be expected in the future.
Only a small number of representative technologies have been published as unexamined patent applications. They include an antibacterial beverage tank containing an inorganic antibacterial agent produced by fixing gold ions or other metal ions offering antibacterial effect to zeolite ion-exchange material (Registered Japanese Utility Model No. 3046284), a production of mineral water that contains gold ions and other minerals beneficial to the human body, wherein such mineral water is produced by setting a mineral carrier in water and causing it to release gold ions, etc., through addition of acid, electrolysis, or other method (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-220580), and a production of sterilizing antiseptic water that offers excellent sterilizing effect at low cost, wherein such antiseptic water is produced by dissolving gold or other heavy metal in oxidation potential water (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-10772).
As explained above, there are strong consumer demands for the development of high-function fiber products, mainly in the form of clothes, which offer excellent health-promoting function and cleanliness-improving function. On the other hand, in light of their potential as a functional material in the areas of health promotion and cleanliness improvement, noble metal materials may be utilized in the development of fiber products offering excellent health-promoting function and cleanliness-improving function. However, practical technologies are not yet reported at the present.
When the existing publications of unexamined patent applications are studied, those relating to utilization of noble metal materials in fiber products are limited to a few involving coloring or dying of fiber materials and production of ornaments using fiber materials.